The East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University presents the winners of the 2023 Sijo Student Competition for K-12 students to honor the traditional Korean form of poetry. Entries from Kentucky and Ohio were received from February - April 1, 2023. More information is available at http://easc.osu.edu/sijo. Winners from the 2023 competition are listed below and 2023 Competition Winners - pdf.
Past winners can be found at: 2022 Sijo Competition Winners and 2021 Sijo Competition Winners.
First Place:
Willow Wilson, 8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
O’Mighty Tree, ancient creature, solemnly, you gaze above.
Stature gleams, stoic and true, coarse with knowledge unknown to man.
Saws whirring; trunk buckling. Returning to Earth, born anew.
Second Place (tied, listed alphabetically):
Kenzie Henry, 8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
Books, papers bound together, creating worlds different from mine,
Worlds I can escape to when reality is too oppressive.
I get lost in these worlds, sometimes confusing them with mine.
Riley Winters, 8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
There is a caged canary in my chest that sings sweet songs.
“Sing for me,” you speak, ready to listen; ready to set it free.
So it does; it sings of sorrow and rips you apart, bit by bit.
Honorable Mention (tied, listed alphabetically):
Alyssa Clark, 8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
A pluviophile walks as a mellifluous serenity
Fell that evening. The aroma of petrichor flowed,
Unmindful, until the shower slowly drizzled away.
Jenna Compliment, 8th Grade, Ironton Middle School
My cousin Emily, fun, bubbly, creative, witty:
She’s brave, determined and my favorite cousin. I have eight.
Land of the Free because of the Brave, oh soldier come home
First Place:
Axel Bidlack, 9th Grade, Wayne Trace High School
Art comes in different forms
Most think of drawings and paintings
Poems are also a form of art
The creators imagination
To make their own view of the world
Known to others like you.
Coordinated by the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University and sponsored in part by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant to the East Asian Studies Center at The Ohio State University.